Fateful Scars (discontinued)
by ehfarina619
Summary: A troubling case forces the two childhood enemies to join forces. What started as seemingly minor crimes, suddenly spiraled into something much more sinister. When Hermione and Draco's lives are threatened if they pursue the case, the two of them are sent into hiding. The close proximity pushes the two into becoming closer than they could ever have fathomed. Dramione.
1. A Difficult Case

Chapter One : A Difficult Case

The crisp October air wisped across her face, the chill of autumn settled itself deep within her as the sun began to set. Hermione closed the book she had been reading on her back deck. She collected her research, as well as her empty mug before retiring to the warmth of her cottage. Her home was not large by any means, however, it suited her just fine. It was a modest stone dwelling, there were three bedrooms, the master being the largest. The other was a guest room, and she had converted the last into a simple library. There weren't many updates done since it was built in the early 1900's, it's old charm was what drew her to it in the first place. The property sat on four acres of land. It was enough to allow her the privacy she wanted, yet not too much where she would feel isolated.

After fixing herself a fresh cup of coffee, she leaned against the wooden countertop and transfixed her gaze outside of the window, watching as the last remnants of the day fled to the horizon before disappearing out of sight. The first spec of stars taking their place upon the evening sky. Averting her gaze to the stacks of parchment she had brought in, she released as soft sigh. She didn't normally bring her work home, but this perticular case had her feeling rather perplexed.

Hermione Granger was the Head of Research and Investigation. After the final battle, so many death eaters had fled going into hiding, nauseating amounts of corruption within the ministry was unearthed, multiple new laws were being created and put into place, amongst a plethora of other things. With the growing demand for researchers needed, an entire department had been created. Her staff would assist nearly every facet of the ministry. Hermione herself on the other hand, specifically worked with the Aurors and Magical Law Enforcement. This current case had her feeling frustrated. She knew there had to be a pattern, something connecting it all together, but she couldn't quite determine exactly what that connection was.

The case had been handed over to her once the Head of MLE realized that a sequence of smaller events could be linked. It started off as a series of break in's, some homes, some businesses. They were rather peculiar, as nothing of great value had been taken. Small trinkets, clothing, a book here and there, a few seemingly insignificant magical plants. The MLE initially thought it was teenagers just causing some trouble. The crimes all happened when either no one was home, or a store was closed up for the evening. It wasn't until roughly a month ago that it had become more serious.

Hannah Longbottom (nee Abbott) was the current owner of The Leaky Cauldron. After closing up the bar, and retreating to her room for the evening, she realized she had left her wand in her office. When she made it downstairs she noticed the door she was approaching was slightly ajar. A dim light, undoubtedly the result of a lumos charm moved about the room. When she inched closer she saw who the intruder was. The culprit wore a long black robe, judging by the height and build, it appeared to be a man, although that was the only thing she could ascertain as the most disturbing and ominous feature he possessed being the silver skull styled mask, covering any trace of identity. She covered her mouth to silence the gasp she released. Quickly, she ducked under a table in the corner near the fireplace, cursing herself for being so careless by leaving her wand behind. The sounds of drawers opening and parchment russelling only lasted maybe five minutes, but to her, it seemed like hours. The masked intruder muttered a hasty 'nox' before making his way out of the office and out of the bar. Hannah wasted no time, swiftly she entered her office, grabbing her wand and turning on her heel, she bounded back up the stairs, her heart pounding in her chest, terrified the intruder could return at any moment. She immediately owled her friend Katie Bell who was an officer for the MLE.

Kaitie came at once, but was accompanied by Harry Potter, Head of the Auror department. After Hannah accounted in detail what she had witnessed, Harry investigated the office with her at his side. After careful examination, it appeared nothing was out of place, nor anything missing. They surmised that whatever the man had been looking for was not there. Harry took down a few notes before placing a tracking ward over the establishment. This was to monitor the comings and goings of the area so that if the man returned they could identify him.

The one detail that seemed to have Harry most confused was the description Hannah gave of the mask. Death eater masks, at least those that belonged to Voldemorts inner circle and most loyal followers, were very intricate with no two being the same. If her recollection was correct, the mask she had described belonged to Fenrir Greyback. However, he had been killed during the final battle. All of the masks belonging to perished or captured Death Eaters were in a secure room located next to his office. When he had returned to work the following morning, the mask was still in its place, the room not tampered with. After some investigation, he didn't believe that this case was the result of any Death Eater, probably just someone starting a bit of trouble figuring they could throw the MLE off using a replica mask, so he passed it back over to the Head of the MLE. After reviewing the information and wondering if the other break in's had been connected, he asked for Hermione to research the matter.

Five weeks later, and Hermione felt like she has barely gotten anywhere. She too felt the incidents were connected, she couldn't determine what it was all equaling out to be. After The Leaky Cauldron incident, no other break in's had been reported. The only tip they had received was this woman, Agatha Jeffries, had a rumored love affair with Amycus Carrow. She looked into her, but there wasn't much there. She was a half-blood for one, the Carrow twins had not been known to see half-bloods as any different than muggle borns. This alone made the claim seem to be nothing more than speculation. Couple that with the fact that the Jeffries woman did not bare the mark, nor have any factual ties to any death eaters, she didn't appear to be of interest.

Hermione piled the parchment in her arms and decided to give them another lookover in the living room. She set them all down on the coffee table before settling herself onto the sofa. About half an hour into her research, a soft tapping noise emitted from her kitchen. When she reached the window, she saw the regal looking black owl that had been the cause of her disruption. She sighed as she new all too well what this was about.

She opened the latch to let the bird in, giving him a few treats before removing the the small parchment from him, he tapped her finger letting her know he would be waiting for a reply. Hermione rolled her eyes before unrolling the small scroll.

Granger,

I trust that you have not forgotten our meeting tomorrow? I would prefer to know what the status is before Monday if you would.

Malfoy

Draco Malfoy. The thought of him infuriated her. He was the Head of Magical Law Enforcement so she had to work with him on a regular basis. He wasn't the same insufferable prat she had to deal with in school, at least not the same kind of insufferable prat. After the war he dropped all prejudices, he didn't believe any of the pureblood nonsense his father had filled his head with for so many years. No, he didn't degrade her blood status or her muggle upbringing, but they didn't see eye to eye on a multitude of things. Both of them being ridiculously hard headed and massively intelligent caused for some rather colorful arguments.

Hermione motioned for the drawer, retrieving a small parchment and quill to reply on. She scribbled out a quick reply and rolled the parchment before handing it to the owl, he gave her a finger a peck than flew off into the nights sky. Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew Draco wouldn't be thrilled with the lack of progress she had made. Not that she really cared what his opinion was, he merely knew how to get under her skin. Not wanting to pay too much mind to the events the following day would bring, Hermione concluded a warm bath and bed would help calm her.

Draco was standing over the counter in his kitchen. His one hand flipping through that days copy of the Daily Prophet, the other hands fingers were curled around the glass that held his firewhiskey. He was reading some article going on about the economy and how the new laws were effecting it. As he flipped to the next page, he could see out the corner of his eye that his owl was descending over the tree line on the outskirts of his property.

He no longer lived at the manor. After his father had been sent to Azkaban, Draco became the head of the household, and inherited everything. While his mother wanted to stay in the family home, Draco couldn't stomach it after everything he had been forced to witness there. He purchased his own home, a decent sized house with an abundance of land right on the outskirts of busy muggle London. Here he received the privacy he wanted, here he could walk out the door without the masses of wizard reporters snapping photo's of the reformed death eater. With Harry and Hermiones testimony, he and his mothers chargers had all been cleared. Five years later, and he had restored the Malfoy name to something that at least resembled respectable. Not that it had been an easy feet, at first, the smear his father had spread across their families named seemed to be placed upon them permanently. Slowly though, Draco managed to prove he was not Lucius, that he could be trusted, that he was a decent man, even if he would live the rest of his life branded with the scar left by something that stood for pure hatred and evil.

He opened the window so that the owl could glide in. He removed the scroll while giving the owl a nod of approval. He unraveled it and took a moment to go over her response.

Malfoy,

No, I have not forgotten. I brought home most of the files, so I would ask that you floo to my house rather than meet in public. Be here at ten, you will have access.

Granger

He knew that she would not be looking forward to the upcoming encounter. Over the course of working together they had managed to hold some sense of civility, although the verbal sparring matches were somewhat inevitable. He would never admit it to anyone, but he did think she was brilliant. She had definitely earned the title 'Brightest Witch of Our Age' for a reason. It was the entirety of this fact that he passed this case over to her. However, at this point, he knew precisely where she was at on it.

He knew how long she had been working on this, if anything came from her research she would have come barreling into his office to boast about her findings. If Hermione couldn't find anything, no one in her department could. He knew they would be joining forces on this, which would entail the inevitable butting of heads between them. He was going to have to insist they make this a joint effort, and to say she wouldn't be thrilled would be an understatement. It wasn't necessarily all because of him, she possessed a certain need for control that drove him to the brink of insanity. He would have to bite his tounge. This was more important than his pride.

Unlike Harry, he didn't see this case as nothing of importance. No one would be daft enough to impersonate a wildly known death eater, albeit a dead one, just to commit petty theft. That would be more dangerous if anything. He honestly had no clue who it could be. There were hundreds if not thousands of Voldemort sympathizers. He had already given Harry a list of everyone he knew of, but there was no way he could identify them all. He was concerned on what was going on, and wouldn't believe it was truly nothing until they captured the perpetrator of the thefts.

He stared down into the amber liquid that filled his glass as he slowly rolled it around. With an exaggerated sigh, he knocked back the drink before heading off to the shower. Tomorrow would most likely turn into a lengthier discussion than he would care to have, but there were some things he didn't bother wasting his breath over with his former classmate.

-x-

This chapter is fairly short, my main goal was just to set up the story here. It will get better though. At least more interesting anyway. I am already about half way through the second chapter and am excited about it. My plan is to update this every week, but if I can do more I will.

Please feel free to review, I appreciate any feedback. This is my first attempt at a fanfiction so I only ask that the reviews are kept respectful. I love constructive critism, as long as it is not rude.

Just in case, I do not own any rights to the Harry Potter universe, and characters in this story are not mine.

Hope you enjoy!

Update: Some of this chapter (the description of The Leaky Cauldron, and the letters) were supposed to be in a different format given their context, but the DOC editor is giving me a hard time. I will try to have this repaired by the next chapter.


	2. The Meeting

Sunlight poured through the windows of his bedroom, cascading over his pale skinned face causing his eyes to blink open. He sat up slowly trying to ignore the pains that made their way through his damaged body.

During the war, Draco had received his fair share of torture at the hands of his own father. The dark lord had not taken Dracos failure to handle Dumbledore lightly. Although Snape had taken it upon himself to finish the task, Voldemort saw Draco as weak and questioned his loyalty, which in turn, made him question the elder Malfoy as well. The only reason Draco had not been killed was to his mother's unwavering dedication to her son and her pleading with his father to beg of the Dark Lords forgiveness. It was given, but Draco would suffer terribly for it.

He swung his legs around, gingerly resting his feet on the floor. He rolled his shoulders, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck for a moment before rising and making his way to the enormous paned glass window. He reveled at the immense landscape, the grounds twinkling as beams of sunlight caught the slight frost that had settled amongst the blades of grass. The tranquil serenity of this place put Draco at ease. The home was his. No room here sent shivers down his spine. Nowhere plagued him with haunting memories of torture and death. Not a single feature reminded him of agonizing pain. There was no dungeon to beckon the reminder of blood curdling screams. No portraits hung on the walls to lecture him of his pureblooded hierarchy, and his place amongst society. Here he did not have to uphold anything Malfoy, nor abide by anyone's rules. Here he was just Draco.

He remained at the window for a few minutes, as the haze of his sleep drifted away. He turned and sauntered his way to his kitchen, with a swift wave of his wand, his coffee was ready, along with eggs and toast. He opened the window before settling at the table so that Maximus, his owl, could deliver his copy of The Daily Prophet. The owl promptly flew in, depositing the paper next to his owners breakfast, quickly vanishing back through the window as if he had never been there. He took his seat and began to eat as he flipped through his paper. Try as he might, he could not seem to focus on the words sprawled across the page in front of him. His mind wandered to his meeting with the former Gryffindor Princess later this morning.

He needed her to agree to work on this with him. He was smart enough to admit he could not solve this on his own, though he knew Hermione would not deduce the same of herself, despite it being true. Unless he was careful in how he presented his proposition to her, she would either refuse to help him, or vehemently deny needing his assistance. He for one never understood why she had been sorted into the house of the lion, that was until her bloody pride would all but smack him in the face to remind him.

After polishing off the rest of his meal, and taking the last few sips of coffee, he motioned his wand over the area performing a scourgify charm upon the items. He picked them up himself, returning them to their rightful places in the dark expresso colored cabinets. Draco returned to his bedroom, opening the double doors leading into the walk in closet. He settled for a pair of dark jeans, coupled with a black zip up hooded sweatshirt. Dressing so informally was not a normal occurrence for him but he had two reasons in which he could justify his choice of relaxed apparel. The first being that if there was one redeeming quality of the insufferable know-it-all that was Hermione Granger, was that she was probably the only woman he had ever come across that could care less about money or the lavish attire and decorum that came with an abundance of it. The second justification would be that the day would hold plenty of uncomfortable aspects of it, and he would prefer his clothing to not be one of them.

After brushing his teeth, and combing through his hair, Draco looked at his watch to see that he still had about fifteen minutes before Hermione would be expecting him. He opted to make another attempt at reading the paper, thinking that now his coffee had a chance to kick in he would be able to focus his attention on the article he had tried and failed to read earlier. He wasn't able to.

Hermione pulled her hair up into a loose bun after deciding on a cream colored sweater paired with some faded jeans. She couldn't see why she should dress up for a meeting that she had not requested, let alone it taking up what would most likely be the majority of her Saturday afternoon. She came to the living room and adjusted her fireplace so Draco had access as he would be arriving shortly. She went over the files she had spread across the dining room table, ensuring everything she wanted to go over was in place. She nervously began pacing back and forth, though she has no idea where the doubt she was feeling came from. Her thoughts suddenly escaped her as the sound of the fireplace erupted with the crackle of green flames signaling her colleagues arrival.

"Malfoy" she said, crossing her arms in front of her as she leaned against the archway leading to the dining area.

"Granger" he nodded, keeping his hands tucked inside his pockets.

An awkward silence fell amongst the pair. Civil as they may be, neither of them could bring themselves to feel entirely comfortable in the others presence. Draco subtly glanced around the room, observing the home of the woman who he once tormented in school. It was small, but it seemed the perfect fit for her. Hermione carefully eyed him for a moment before deciding to end the void of strained conversation.

"I have the files set out in the dining room, can I get you a cup of tea? I also have coffee if you would prefer." she had uncrossed her arms and was now absentmindedly twiddling her fingers together.

Draco was pulled from his observations at her question. "Tea is fine. Thank you. Do you mind if I take a look at what you have?"

She bit her lip, not fondly anticipating what he would have to say about her work.

"Feel free, I'll just go and get the tea."

Hermione made quick work of preparing the beverages, making her way to the table and setting his mug down by him.

"There really doesn't seem to be a point in delaying the obvious. I haven't found much of anything." she commented as she took her seat.

"Tell me something I don't know Granger." he said, almost immediately damning himself. If this was to lean in his favor, that was definitely not the way to achieve it.

"And just what is that supposed to mean? Might I remind you, YOU were the one who came to me with this case!" She exclaimed, furrowing her brows with irritation.

"Calm down Granger." he responded as he looked up from the file he was reviewing. "It wasn't an insult. I am merely stating a fact. If you had in fact found something of importance, would you, or would you not have come directly to me?"

Hermione wanted to reply but she felt uncharacteristically put off by his remark.

"Exactly." he said. He paused for a moment, glancing back over the file before meeting her gaze again. "Look Granger, I am sufficiently aware that you will not like my proposition, but I believe it would be best if-" she cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"You are not pulling me off this Malfoy. I have been working my arse off on this bloody case for over a month." she was now own her feet, standing over him in a stance akin to that of a mother scolding her child. "If you think for one second that I'm just going to lay down and hand this case-"

It was Dracos turn to interrupt. He jumped to his feet, his broad structure almost towering over her small frame. "back over to me? Let me remind you that this case belongs to my department! I requested your assistance, but I have the final say on whose hands it winds up in."

She put her hands on her hips, her rich brown eyes shooting daggers into his storm cloud orbs. "How dare you! I have not wasted all of this time for you to walk into my home to tell me you're removing me from-"

Raising his voice more then he intended. Draco threw his hands up in exasperation. "Who the fuck ever said I was removing you? I don't believe that is what I said, in fact, if you would keep your bloody mouth shut and listen for two seconds, you would know my proposition was for us to work on this together!"

She felt the anger slowly dissipate and embarrassment began to creep in replacing it. "Oh well...I didn't...I'm just..." She sighed as she searched for the words she wanted to speak next. "I've been trying to figure out what the hell all of this is adding up to and I'm getting nowhere. It's infuriating to say the least." She resumed her pacing from earlier. "The only thing I've gotten, was some faulty tip on this Jeffries woman which of course was nothing. None of the stolen items seem to fit together, yet I can feel something there. I just cannot believe someone would try to impersonate Greyback of all people for mere petty theft. There has to be a bigger picture here"

Dracos shoulders relaxed as the tension fled from his muscles. While he had anticipated a row of some sorts, he didn't see it coming about so soon into their discussion.

"I know. Something is missing, or there is something we are not seeing. You said there was a tip on this Jeffries woman, it wouldn't by chance be Agatha Jeffries would it?"

Hermione froze, giving him an incredulous look when she answered him. "Yes, but...the tip...well it wasn't substantial. They said the woman was having an affair with Carrow. She is a half blood though, she doesn't bare the mark, and I couldn't find any verifiable ties to her with any death eater."

"Well there wouldn't be. Not for lack of her trying anyway. She liked to meander around the pubs most of men would frequent. She would spew on and on about how she worshipped the dark lord, how she wanted to be of service to him. It wasn't that Voldermort wouldn't accept half bloods, but they had to have something of value to him. She could provide nothing. She had no money, no influence, her magic was limited. It didn't stop her from swooning over anyone who bared the mark." Draco explained as he settled back into his seat, taking a sip of the tea Hermione and brought him.

"Do you think she would be capable of committing any of the break ins?" Hermione had now calmed herself, joining him at the table.

Draco sighed as he slouched his shoulders, resting his forearms on the table. "Well we know it at least wasn't her at The Leaky Cauldron. That isn't to say she is not assisting with the thefts. I would find it highly unlikely to learn she was somehow involved" he paused for a moment, rubbing his chin as he contemplated the thought. "On the other hand, if she is still as loyal to her beliefs as she was back then, I wouldn't rule her out completely."

Hermione ran her palms over her face, sliding them backwards into her hair. She felt utterly dumbfounded with herself. How could she not have thought to question him about the woman? Before she could sit on the matter any longer Draco spoke again.

"With this new development, considering how I may be of some use to you after all, would you be willing to accept my offer?" he stared at her intently.

She searched his eyes, not knowing what exactly she was seeking within the pools of grey that bore down on her with such intensity. As much as she did not enjoy the thought of working with him, he did just supply her with the only possible lead she had seen in the span of her work on this case. Conceiting with herself that this was not about her nor her comfort level, this was about keeping innocent citizens safe. If she disagreed he would just remove her and handle it himself. She reluctantly agreed.

"Fine Malfoy. We work together on this. I suppose that would be beneficial to my research as you have the authority to actually question people where as I do not."

"You thinking we need to question Jeffries?" he asked from behind his cup of tea.

Hermione leaned back in her chair. "There's not much to go on. Whether the claims about her and Carrow are true or not, sleeping with a death eater isn't exactly a crime. There is absolutely nothing else even remotely linking her to any of this. What's your opinion on it"

He shrugged his shoulders. "You have a point, I wouldn't be violating any laws by questioning her, but seeing as she hasn't actually done anything that we have proof of, if she is in fact connected that will only alert her that we have our suspicions, she could go into hiding." he paused for a moment considering what approach they could take. "I can however have Katie track her. We are completely within the law to track any witch or wizard without alerting them if it is imperative to an open case."

"At this point I don't think it could hurt." she said

"Well that's settled. What about the items, is there any possible link at all that you can find? Even a small one may help." he was glancing over the list she had made up.

 **-3 sets of black dress robes**

 **-'History of Azkaban : Vol. 2'**

 **-'Treatment of Minor Magical Maladies : Vol. 12'**

 **-Costume red jeweled locket with necklace.**

 **-Silver plated picture frame**

 **\- 1 jar of Gillyweed**

 **\- a shrivelfig plant**

 **\- 2 bushels of fire flowers**

He knew what items had been taken from where, but he hadn't deduced how they pieced together. Glancing over it once more he looked up at the witch sitting adjacent to him. "What is a shrivelfig plant? Herbology never quite captivated me as it did Longbottom."

She sent him a look daring him to say anything negative about her former housemate. "It's somewhat of a version of a small scale fig tree. The fruit itself is harmless, but tastes awful. The leaves hold medicinal qualities, but unless the person who stole these is extremely gifted with gardening, the plant I'd useless."

"And why is that?"

"Well the plants leaves shrivel and die in the Autumn and don't return until the spring. In other words, they would either have to find a way to keep the leaves from dying, which is possible but massively difficult, or somehow harvest them and store them, though to my knowledge there is no way to do that."

Draco examined the list again, recalling one of the books that had been reported stolen. "And does Treatment of Magical Maladies contain anything about this particular plant?"

"Yes, I see where you're going, but that doesn't explain the other plants." she said resting her head on her hand.

"No, I am familiar with the other two. I have a few texts at home on the subject, I can have a look over them and see if I can find anything."

"I've read over multiple texts and can't seem to find anything. Maybe a fresh pair of eyes on it would help."

Draco stood from his seat. "Right, well I think we ought to take a new approach, though I don't see a point in us dedicating the entirety of our weekend on this. Meet me in my office Monday morning with what you have, we'll figure out where to go from there."

She too rose from her seat to see him out. "Alright" she walked with him to the living room.

Draco grabbed a handful of floo powder, stepping inside.

"Granger" he said with a nod.

"Malfoy" she replied mirroring the gesture

 **-x-**

 **Okay so this chapter is a bit slow, I know this doesn't sound like typical Draco, but mind you, he is different now. Flashes of the old him will come out in later chapters.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think.**

 **Thanks for reading**!


	3. A Second Look

Chapter three: A Second Look

The sound of Hermiones heels echoed through the corridor as she walked along the lustrous black floor. Her weekend had concluded, and Monday was now here, meaning that her work with Draco Malfoy was about to begin. Despite having her reservations about working with her former enemy, after some reflection, she admitted to herself that having someone else to work on this with seemed to lessen the burden weighing on her shoulders. Draco was an intelligent man, and he was excellent at his job. He had been commended by the minister himself at the improvements the young wizard had made to the MLE. Differences aside, he was actually the best person to be working on this with.

As she reached his office, she scanned over the documents in her arms, ensuring she had gathered what they would need. She knocked on his door awaiting permission to enter.

"Come in." Draco called out from behind his desk.

Hermione gently pushed the door open, lingering in the doorway as she greeted him. "Malfoy"

"Granger" he said not looking up from his work. His strikingly blond hair fell loosely in front of his eyes that Hermione surmised were staring intently on what he was writing. He shuffled some papers around before meeting her gaze. "Are you just going to stand there all day Granger? Because I don't see us accomplishing anything that way."

Hermione rolled her eyes, and shut the door. "It's nice to see how pleasant you can be this early in the morning Malfoy" she said as she took a seat in the larger leather armchair.

"Did you bring the files?" he asked as he ignored her previous remark.

"No, I thought we would be able to solve the case more efficiently without them" she said sarcastically.

Draco stared at her. "I'm honestly on no mood to be listening to your shit all day Granger" he said flatly.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Really? Because I've just been dying to sit here patiently while you act like an arsehole." she paused for only a moment, not allowing him to respond. "It's obvious that neither of us is going to be enjoying this predicament we're in, but it's rather apparent that we need each other on this. There are going to be more pressing matters for us to argue over, so can we keep this petty crap off to the side?"

Draco narrowed his steel grey eyes on her. She was right, they would have countless arguments in the days if not weeks to come. If they could keep it to a minimum, they may be able to get through this without hexing each other into oblivion. He scoffed "Very well. Now can I please see the files?" he held his expectant hand out.

Hermione gave him a cautious glance, followed by the handing over of the files. "Did you have questions on any of the incidents?" she asked.

"No, not yet anyway. I know them fairly well, but I want to go over the specifics for anything I may have missed. I went through some texts I had at home about the plants, but it was all things we both know already. Are you aware of the full properties of the fire flower?" he asked from behind the parchment he was examining.

She leaned forward slightly in her seat. "For the most part. To my understanding, they are not all that rare, they typically grow in denser areas of the forest, though they can still thrive in most environments as they don't require much care. The petals never fall off, if the plant dies they remain attached. To remove the petals they must be cut. Once cut, when a miniscule amount of water is dropped on them, they will produce a small flame, not much, but enough to kindle a fire."

He wasn't surprised at her knowledge. When they were identified as one of the stolen items she probably read every text she could find on them. "Yes, though it is only affected by water once the petals have been removed, it resembles an orchid with the petals sharing the same colors of a flame."

"Yes, I do recall reading that. Some of the things on here though..." she scanned her eyes over the list of stolen possessions. "I just don't see a reason for stealing them."

Draco leaned back in his chair. "How do you mean?"

She handed over the list "The locket for one. Its not real, it's essentially worthless, or the picture frame. The owner said it was an antique, but still not worth much. Why steal them?"

"Why steal any of it?" he asked.

Hermione furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

He stood from his chair, resting his hands upon the desk, glancing over the files briefly before resuming his thought. "Any of it really. The books for example, they're not hard to come by books, not even the volumes. They could easily be purchased at Flourish and Botts. Fire flowers are fairly easy to find. The jars of gillyweed, they are a bit pricey, but not impossible to find. Dress robes? Why steal any of it?"

"The only thing I can think of is someone didn't want any record of purchases." she said.

He thought for a moment, as if trying to piece together the puzzle that was this case. "Was Hannah certain nothing was taken from her office? Ever since that night, all activity has stopped. Is it at all possible that she missed something?"

"I was starting to wonder the same thing. I know that Neville keeps some of his texts in her office, ones he doesn't want at Hogwarts because he doesn't want a student to get a hold of. I owled him the other day. He will be coming home this weekend, and said he would have a look to be sure."

"Very well." Draco said. "Then for now, I think we should study the files. Let's make sure we have every detail, something that may have seemed minor, could potentially be something of use to us."

Hermione nodded. "Okay, split them in half then?"

Draco split the stack of files in half, passing her the top portion without a response.

The following few days passed by with similar fashion to the pairs interaction on Monday. They would go over the files in silence, only speaking when either would come about something worthy of mentioning. It was worth noting that they had managed to keep their bickering to a minimum with only a few rows between the two.

They both agreed that something had to have been taken from The Leaky Cauldron. Why else would all activity cease to exist? Hermione was eagerly awaiting an owl from Neville when he came home this weekend. However there was another matter that neither could agree with the other. That was the cause for the current situation they were in. They could not come to an agreement on whether Draco should question Agatha Jeffries or not.

"I just don't see what harm would come from asking her a few questions." Hermione said keeping her hands firmly attached to her hips.

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "As I have already said Granger, there is no substantial evidence linking her to any of this. Let's pretend for a second she is connected, at this time I have no grounds to bring her in on. Until we have something more tangible to go on, and that's if we find something, the only thing I would do by questioning her is alert her that she is a person of interest. She could leave the bloody country and I cannot stop her."

"You don't know that for certain. She could have nothing to do with this. She could know something and only care about protecting herself."

Draco spat at her in an irritated tone. "She knows me, she knows who I used to be as well. If I go sticking my nose into her personal affairs it will not take her long to figure out."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "A tip was received giving her an intimate link with a notorious death eater Draco. How is that not reason enough to question her?"

Draco rose his voice, only a fraction below yelling. "She fucked a death eater? That's the credible evidence you want me to question her on? Give me a bloody break. You said yourself it's not against the law!"

She now stood only inches away, straining her neck to narrow her eyes on him. "Well thank Merlin for that. I can only imagine how many former Malfoy escapades would be rotting away in Azkaben if it were."

For a moment Draco wanted to yell at her for the mention of his darker past, instead, he found her attempt at insulting him rather amusing. A small smirk curled the corner of his lip. "Now, now Granger. No need to be jealous of my early conquests."

Her eyes widened with surprise. "Jealous? Believe me I am anything but jealous of the mindless twats you take to bed."

He raised his eyebrows. He knew he would probably regret this, but he couldn't resist the comeback he had in store. "Oh so I should shag women better matching my intelligence you think? I suppose you have someone in mind?" he winked at her.

Her mouth fell open in shock. Any words she could possibly formulate were stuck in the back of throat refusing to escape.

A wide smile spread across his face. "I always knew you fancied me Granger." he said as he began to laugh at her expression.

She closed her mouth, irritated that he had bested her this time. Determined not to let him have the last word she countered him. "Please Malfoy, if I had my pick between you and the dungeon troll from first year, I'd pick the troll." she tried to hide her amusement but failed. She too was now laughing.

He grabbed his chest in mock pain. "You wound me Granger. However will my ego be fed?"

They briefly continued the laughter as the tension from the previous argument began to slip away. With small smiles still slightly etched upon their faces, the two examined one another, both unsure of how to feel about this strange new sort of jovial interaction between them. Before either could reflect on the matter further, their thoughts were interrupted by Draco's office door swinging open. A mop of unmistakable orange hair amidst pale skin was almost all that was needed to recognize the wizard.

"You know Weasel, customarily, proper manners indicate to knock before entering another's office." Draco said with a hint of disgust.

"Shut it Ferret. Where are you at with the case involving the string of break in's." Ron spat.

"I don't answer to you for one. For two, that case is in the hands of my department. You have no authority or right to question me." Draco replied nonchalantly.

Ron's eyes narrowed on the blonde "Might I remind you that I am an auror and I may investigate if I so choose."

"Actually Ron," Hermione interjected "you can't."

Ron averted his gaze, focusing on his former love, eyes widening as he had been too transfixed on hounding Draco that he did not take notice of her upon his intrusion. "And just what does that mean?"

Draco seized the opportunity to throw another insult "Do use small words Granger, wouldn't want to give the man an aneurism by making him think too hard."

Ron motioned to move towards Draco but Hermione spoke first. "What I mean, Ronald, is that Draco is the head of this department, the only one who can question him is Harry. Which he hasn't. In fact, he is the one who asked Draco to take over. The fact that you think you have any right to waltz in here demanding answers in actually insulting."

Ron was increasingly becoming more irate. "Draco? On a first name basis with the enemy now are you?"

She rolled her eyes "As a matter of fact, yes I am. Draco and I are working on this case together. The last I checked, I don't owe you an explanation to anything. Enemy? Honestly Ronald, grow up. Furthermore, might I remind YOU that Draco and I are both the Heads of our respective departments, which makes us both higher authority than you, frankly, I don't give a shit whether you're an auror or not. I am still a superior to you. Now I'm sure Harry would love to hear about this little outburst of yours wouldn't he?"

Ron's face had become a dark shade of red, his anger boiling over at an alarming rate. "Merlin Hermione, you really can be such a fucking-"

Draco had decided the weasel had been in his presence long enough and did not let him finish that statement. "Seeing as how you have wasted enough of our time for one day, do see yourself out."

Ron spoke through clenched teeth. "We'll see who has the last laugh bitch." he directed at her. He then looked between the two before storming out, slamming the door behind him.

Draco moved to sit at his desk. Without looking at her he spoke. "He wanted to transfer into this department as Head. When I received the promotion over him, he behaved like a petulant child, rambling on about how a death eater had no business in the ministry. Funny how I let my prejudice go, but his got worse. Anyway, he saunters in here ever so often trying to take cases since he is a useless auror and they keep him behind a desk all day."

Hermione seemed furious. "He's a pathetic excuse for a man. If anyone doesn't belong here, it's him." she seethed.

While Draco was not aware of the specifics, he knew the two had a nasty break up a few years back, and the they did not retain the former friendship. Seeing as how she had just insinuated that Draco was the better man if the two, he found it safe to say that the former couple never reconciled. Choosing not to dwell on it, he opted to draw her mind from the unpleasant encounter. "Draco huh?"

Her anger seemed to vanish as a sly smile crept onto her face. "Don't get used to it. I knew it would infuriate him to hear it."

"Fair enough." he shrugged "Listen, let's wait until you speak with Neville, see where you get with him, if you still feel it necessary, I'll speak with Jeffries. Does that seem feasible to you?"

She sighed a breath of relief "yes, I can live with that."

"Well lets call it a day here then. If you get anywhere with Neville, owl me at once." he said.

Hermione collected her things "of course, though if there's nothing, I will see you Monday."

He nodded to her "Evening Granger."

"Evening Malfoy." she turned to leave.

As she made her way down the corridor the echo of her heels against the floor seemed slightly less daunting.

 **-x-**

 **And there's Ron. I will have more backstory to that in a later chapter. Which will be important.**

 **How do you like it so far? Anything you don't like? Please review!**

 **Once again, thanks for reading**


	4. A Sudden Breakthrough

Chapter four: A Sudden Breakthrough

Droplets of rain tapped against the glass windows of the cottage. Hermione was curled up on her sofa under a warm fleece blanket. She had decided to take a break from her research that morning as she already knew every detail regarding the case. As she finished the last page of the book she was reading, her mind wandered to the events of the previous day, when she had been standing in the same room as two men who she regarded in very different ways.

There was Ron, a man whom she once called her best friend during their childhood, a man whom she once fell in love with, and thought she would marry. There was Draco the man who tormented her in school, who used to call her mudblood, who had fought on the other side during the war. In only five years her opinion on them had changed dramatically.

Ron now disgusted her. After the war they dated for two years, but their relationship was not meant to be. When it didn't work out it had been as if every tie that once bonded them together had been cut through by the harsh reality of their futures not forming the roles they each thought they would have. It was Hermione who made the decision to walk away and Ron never forgave her for it. He now treated her with almost the same disdain that he did Draco.

Draco. How he had changed into something she would have never foreseen. He had his flaws, his harsh exterior being one of them. However, he had worked tirelessly after the war to prove himself worthy of the second chance that he had been giving. He donated a small fortune to the war recovery efforts. He and his mother had held numerous charity events to benefit the many children, including his young cousin, who had been orphaned. He assisted the aurors immensely in their hunt for missing death eaters, not to mention how hard he had worked for the MLE. He was a changed man, though Hermione believed he had always held a good heart, but it had been hidden behind years of having gross intolerance drilled into his head by the tyrant he once called father.

Then there was the matter of yesterday. They had laughed at each other, though not the calloused laughter that had consumed much of their youth. This was different. It was something cheerful, they had made jokes at one another's expense, but the interaction seemed to lighten the pairs defenses. Maybe it was nothing, merely a product of a weeks worth of shared company. Perhaps it was the years of contempt for one another finally slipping away. She couldn't be sure which of the two it was, but she surprisingly hoped for the latter.

A moment later, the familiar green flames engulfed her fireplace as the voice of her former classmate filled the air "Hermione? Are you home?"

She all up but jumped out of her seat, sticking her head into the emerald flames. "Good morning Neville" she said with a warm smile.

"Morning love. I know I said I would owl but this is something you may want to hear in person. Do you mind if I come through?" he asked.

She felt her heartbeat quicken at the possibility of new evidence. "Of course Neville, you're always welcome in my home." she said before ducking out of the fireplace, dusting the soot off of her clothes as she rose to her feet.

Seconds later, Neville was stepping inside her living room. "Its good to see you Hermione" he stated as he placed a friendly kiss upon her cheek, pulling her into a warm embrace.

"You too Neville." she said. As she pulled away she flashed him another smile. "How is everything at Hogwarts Professor Longbottom?"

He laughed "Four years and I'm still not used to that title you know? They're excellent though, plenty of learning going on with our lot not being there."

The two smiled at one another before a more serious expression took over the man's face. "I wish I had better news, but unfortunately, I did find something of mine missing."

"Have a seat" she said, gesturing towards the sofa. "What was it Neville?"

He hesitated before beginning. "At first glance it would appear to be nothing more than a common magical gardening book" he reached into his satchel and retrieved a small text. "Here" he said, handing her a tattered and worn book titled 'Importance of Placement in A Wizards Garden'.

Hermione looked over the text, flipping through the pages, taking notice of the multitude of scribble in the margins. "I don't understand. If it was stolen, how did you-"

"Right, probably should have led with that. I have, well had, two copies. This one though." he pointed to the old text. "This was Professor Sprouts. She gave it to me when I started. I believe this was what they were looking for, not the copy they got."

"But what is so important about it?" she seemed puzzled.

"You see, herbology may seem fairly safe. But you have to remember, when you are planting inside of a greenhouse you can have multiple species of plants in close proximity to each other, where as in the wild, they wouldn't naturally grow like that. Anyway, certain magical plants cannot be stored within a confined place together as they can become dangerous. Some can release a toxic gas when they are introduced, mix certain ones pollen or sap together and it can be poisoness, combine others and they can explode. A lot of these can be common, usually harmless plants. Professor Sprout had came across other mixtures or remedies over the decades that she would make note of to keep students safe, however, she kept this book locked away so that this knowledge wouldn't be well known. But if this copy landed in the wrong hands, that person would be very dangerous."

She took a moment to process this new information. "What about without these notations? What could someone accomplish?" she asked.

Neville released a sigh "its hard to say really. It would depend on what they already know of magical plants. Possibly nothing. On the other hand, if handled in the right way, some combinations could be, controlled in a sense, weaponized worse than any potion on curse."

"Neville, may I hang onto this for little while? I will keep it locked in my office for safe keeping. I just need to cross reference a few things." she asked.

"I figured as much, that's why I brought it. Did you have any other questions? I hate to cut things short, but I am so rarely able to come home during the school year, and would like to spend as much time with Hannah as I can." he stood from his seat next to his old friend.

"Of course you would. That should be enough for now, if I have any other questions I can send an owl. Go home and see your wife Neville, I know she misses you." she said.

"I did get quite lucky with her didn't I? I'll be back around the holidays, I do hope we can find some time to catch up." he said as he grabbed a handful of floo powder.

"We will, do send Hannah my love." she smiled, giving his arm a light squeeze.

"Good luck with the case Hermione." he dropped the powder in the fireplace and was gone in an instant.

Hermione immediately grabbed the book off of the coffee table, retreating to her library. She sat at the small desk that was perched beneath a tall window. The rain still tapping softly on the glass. She retrieved a few pieces of parchment and a quill, opened the book and began scouring the pages, hoping to find something, anything that could provide some answers.

Draco sat at his kitchen counter with a cup of coffee and some of the case files. He was working on a list of questions to ask Jeffries. While he didn't agree with Hermione on this, if she did get her way. He wanted to be prepared. He too was feeling unsure of their reactions to one another the prior day in his office.

Did he really joke that she wanted to shag him? Yes, he did. It's not that Hermione wasn't an attractive woman, even Draco could admit she was beautiful. They simply had too much history. He felt a deep remorse for the hatred he had shown her during school, and while she had forgiven him, the damage was already done. He had expected her to slap him, but she laughed. She laughed at him without malice, and for a brief moment, their past seemed miles away.

After making a few more notes, he made to venture upstairs to change, as he was still in his pair of black plaid lounge pants, as well as a loose grey t-shirt, when the sound of his floo being accessed stopped him in his tracks. He turned to see Hermione now standing in his living room. Her face pale, her eyes wide as she glanced around the room. Her eyes met with his and he could see the terror behind them.

Draco came back down the few steps he had made it up to and quickly approached her. "What is it Granger? What happened?" he asked.

"Neville...something was taken...it's...Malfoy this could be bad. This could be really bad." she said in a frantic tone.

He became a bit unnerved by her state. This had to be bad if it had her this shaken up. "What are you talking about Granger what went missing?" he asked.

"A book. A herbology book...the plants...if they know...we have to stop them...this could be so bad." she trailed off.

Draco grabbed both of her arms. Not harshly, but enough to get her attention. "Granger, you need to calm down, your not making any sense. What happened? What about the plants?" he urged her to explain.

Hermione took a deep breath to help calm herself "I'm sorry, I came here as soon as I figured it out. Neville came to see me this morning." she glanced down at Dracos hands that were still gripping her arms.

Draco released her and motioned to the couch. "Sit down." She nodded and took a seat, Draco following after her "I thought he was going to owl you." he said.

"He was going to, that was until he discovered what was missing. You see Neville had two copies of this particular book. The one he lent me was a copy that Professor Sprout had given him. He suspects that was the copy intended to be stolen, but they took the wrong one." she said with her head resting on her palm, her arm perched on her knee.

"What kind of book? Why is this so bad?" he was getting frustrated at her lack of answers as to why this was such a development.

"Were you aware that when storing wild magical plants, certain species should never come in contact with one another? That they can become extremely dangerous?" she asked.

"Vaguely, my Mother had a small greenhouse at the manor, I can remember her saying something about it before." he answered.

"Well, if someone is very careful, they could control the effects to a point and create a sort of weapon. I poured over that book, and what I discovered...I read it over and over...and then the notations indicated what I feared. I thought there was no way they would know...if they..." she trailed off.

Draco pushed her to continue. "What did you find Granger? If they know what?"

"The stolen plants. The book said how if gillyweed were to come in contact with a pulled petal of a fire flower, just a single drop of water could cause a massive explosion. The opposite properties of the two, one fire one water, they become unstable when introduced."

Draco stared into her panicked eyes. "But for someone to create that effect, they would have to be standing right next to it. That would kill them." he pointed out.

Hermione stood and began frantically pacing across his floor. "I thought that too, but then I read the notations further. Apparently a colleague of hers had discovered a way to utilize it. He wanted to use it for demolition purposes, but abandoned the idea when it proved to be too unstable. Essentially, you could fold the flower petals inside a leaf of gillyweed, then coat them in a sort of bonding agent. With the bonding agent, you could drop the water onto it, and have enough time to get away before the explosion would occur." she explained.

"And did the notes describe a bonding agent then?" he asked.

She stopped and turned to face him. "A paste made from the fruit of a shrivelfig."

"Fuck." he said. "But they took the wrong book, and they went to take it after they had all of the ingredients. How did they know what they would need?" he asked.

"I don't know, but this can't be a mere coincidence. Draco they were wearing a death eater mask. Do you understand the magnitude of this?"

"Of course I understand stand the fucking magnitude of this Granger!" he yelled causing her to flinch. He wasn't angry with her, he was just so fed up with these insane Voldemort fanatics, destined to carry on his legacy. He realized he didn't need to speak to his partner like that. "I shouldn't have raised my voice to you like that. These fucking fanatics need to stop. This is ridiculous." he said. He stood with his hands on his hips, his eyes gazing out the front window.

"Malfoy...I know you don't want to do it, but I think we need to question Agatha. If I am right, whoever is doing this could be making a bomb. Whether we think she is involved or not, she is the only possible source we can go to for some possible answers at this point."

He could tell by her voice that this time he would not win, but with this new development, there was no reason to argue. "You're right. I'll have to handle some paperwork first, but we will speak with her this week." he said.

"Malfoy, we have to find out who is doing this." she said in a serious tone her arms folded across her chest.

"We will. They won't hurt anyone okay?" he had no way of knowing for certain but he was determined to catch whoever was responsible for all of this. "I need a drink" he said as he made for the kitchen.

"It isn't even noon and you going to start drinking?" she asked.

He stopped and turned to face her. "Our case just went from petty theft, to someone potentially making a very large, very lethal bomb. I think you can excuse me for having a drink." he resumed his way to the kitchen.

"Malfoy?" she asked.

"Yes Granger?" he said slightly annoyed over his shoulder.

"Pour me one too." she said.

The duo disappeared into the kitchen. Both unaware of how the events of the upcoming week, were to change their lives forever.

 **-x-**

 **So, things are beginning to unfold. I hope you all are enjoying this story so far. Reminder this is my first try at a fanfic.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think.**

 **Thanks again for reading**


	5. Chapter 5

I have decided to discontinue this story. For any of you who were following this, I will be rewriting it and continuing it later. I have a great idea for this story, but I feel I was rushing it far too much and I'm not happy with it right now.


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